Emirates Desert Championship R6

The final round of the EDC was held back at Lihbab, where we'd raced a few months back. Tom 'Sabertooth' Bell and Ben came out to lend their support to Newtrix, and to get to grips with the local rally scene. The venue was a late change from Sweihan, for which permission from the authorities was not forthcoming. So the track was an exact replica of the previous visit, although the sand had changed noticeably in places.

This time out we were joined by celebrities! Marc Coma was competing as a final practice before the Desert Challenge, and our old friend Charlie Boorman was there to flag off the bikes - though he had to rush back to Dubai to take part in the Literature Festival.

Starting 30 seconds behind Emil Kneisser in his T2 Y62 Patrol,I was on his tail less than five minutes into the first 14.5km lap. As we entered the one one long flat subkha I realised that this was an opportunity not to be missed. A straight drag race across the plain saw Newtrix take the lead, just before we reached the dunes beyond. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself, and as they say, pride cometh before a fall. Most dunes give you fair warning that what's on the other side sould be given adequate respect, but not this one - there was no dune, just a sudden drop-off. As I went over it, I saw a broken white buggy lying in a three-wheeled heap beyond, and the driver frantically trying to climb the drop-off to warn oncoming traffic. The Beast landed heavily on its snout, thought about falling on its roof (oh no, not again!) and finally decided to pirouette sideways and land on its wheels. Which was good - except that it was now stalled at the foot of the drop-off, in prime position to be t-boned by Emil. Fortunately, the buggy guy had now climbed up, and was able to slow Emil down while I made my getaway

This, ladies and gentlemen, was a significantly bowel-loosening moment, and I make no apology for driving like an old man (which of course I am) from that point onward. However the car wasn't behaving as well as it had. It was tough to get the power down, the axle kept tramping as though the rear suspension was shot and I even stopped at one point, convinced that I'd broken something. As a result, my speed dropped and I was eventually re-taken by Emil, and by Mark Powell's Predator which had started 30 seconds behind me. Looking back I suspect that maybe the prang had knocked it out of 4WD, and I was unwittingly continuing in 2WD.

The final result was that Mark took the win, I was 2nd and Ammar Moukayed - a finisher in the previous week's event - came 3rd. This should mean that Newtrix retain the T1 Championship for another year.

Ian the Dog, Mark Powell, Ammar Moukayed and co-driver Ayman Soliman, Mohd Ben Sulayem

After a quick check-over, The Beast is back at Mebar for the front axle to be replaced, and for the air intake to be conmpletely remodelled. The steel airfilter canister will go, as will the short 36mm restrictor and the long 4" bend into the throttle body. Instead we will reinstall the snorkel, duct air from that into a custom air-box and filter (modelled on the one built for Emil), then to an extended restrictor and a shorter bend to the throttle. The upshot of all this should be (a) much cleaner air going into the filter (I emptied about a kilo of sand out after this event!) and (b) improved airflow efficiency from a better-designed restrictor.

While this is going on, we're off to Cyprus for a week of intensive de-stress therapy, involving large volumes of Keo beer and mountains of Greek food. As soon as we're back the final preparation for the 2015 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge will commence. We have the Dream Team to support us: Rick Carless, Richard Bailey, Jason Lyness and Kate Stedman - so what could possibly go wrong? Join us again soon for answers to this and many other questions!